Stamp-mutilator.



n 0 H 0 I u I. d e t n 6 t a. P B E N N K 8 Am Q 6 6 3 5 6 0 N STAMP MUTILATOR.

(Application filed. Apr. 11, 1906.

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT O EIc ,OI'IARLES A. SKINNER, OF HOMER, NElV YORK.

STAM P-M UTl LATO R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 653,366, dated July 10, 1900. Application filed April 11, 1900. Serial No. 12,446. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES A. SKINNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Homer, in the county of Cortland and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in -Stamp-Mutilators; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

This invention has for its object to provide a simple and convenient device for effectually preventing the reutilization of stamps which have once been used.

As is Well known, stamps which have been canceled by means of ink or marks thereon may be cleaned and again used, thereby defrauding the Government of its revenue, and as a precaution against such fraudulent practices requirements have been made that stamps, and particularly revenue-stamps of the higher denominations, shall be destroyed by cuts passing through the body of the stamp to prevent the aforesaid fraudulent practice.

The object of the invention is to provide a convenient and cheap device in the form of a hand-stamp which will at one operation form a number of slits or cuts in the stamp without requiring undue labor on the part of the person making the cancellation, to which end the invention consists, primarily, in a stamp canceler or mutilator embodying a series of blades for slitting the stamp, a pivoted carrier in which such blades are mounted, and an operating mechanism for swinging said carrier on its center, whereby the blades are caused toenter with a shearing out, thereby lightening the labor and insuringa com u res indicate the same parts.

The body of the stamp or mutilator may be made of any usual or preferred style, preferably, however, having some weight, being for this purpose made of metal, and in the particular device illustrated it is provided with a base portion A, somewhat extended transversely in one direction and having a vertically-exteuding stem A, such parts being hollow and adapted to contain the working mechanism, to be hereinafter referred to. In the larger cavity or in the base portion of the body there is pivotally mounted at one end, near the bottom, a knife carrier or support B, such knife carrier or support being adapted for the attachment of a series or a plurality of thin knife-blades 0, preferably having their cutting edgesarranged parallel with the bottom of the carrier or in such relation thereto that as the carrier is swung on its pivotal centerone corner or end of the blades will be first projected beyond the bottom of the body portion A, and as the carrier swings farther and farther on its center the whole of the blades or the cutting portions thereof will be projected.

The blades may be held in place in the carrier by being mounted in suitable recesses therein and secured by transverse rivets c or in any other preferred or usual manner. EX- tending upwardly from the knife-carrier B Like letters of reference in the several figand preferably jointed thereto is an operating-rod D, the upper jointed end 01 of which extends out through the top of the tubular extension A of the body and is adapted for the reception or attachment of an operating handle or knob E, the attachment between these parts being preferably formed by anut recessed into and forming a part of the upper end of the handle and cooperating with a thread on the stem (1.

To hold the knives normally retracted within the body A, a spring F is provided around the operating-stem D and adapted to hear at stem D is first passed through the tubular projection of the body from the bottom and the knife-carrier secured in position by its pivotpin, after which the spring may be applied and the stop G screwed down upon the upper end of the spring. The handle may then be put in place and secured by means of the nut, as aforesaid.

The stop or nut G, with the handle E, by being screwed up or down on the stem operates to limit the downward swing or movement of the knife-carrier and knives and may be therefore utilized to control the extent of the projection of such knives and the length of the cut formed thereby, for, obviously, if the knives are allowed to descend only until a portion of their length is projected beyond the body the cut wlll be shorter than if the entire length of the knives is projected; but in every instance the cut commences to form at one corner of the blades and insures a complete penetration or severance of the fiber of the stamp way through for a portion of the length of the cut, a result which is difficult to attain where the knives operate throughout their entire length simultaneously upon the surface of the paper.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a stamp-mutilator the combination with the bodyhaving the upwardly-extending tubular stem, of the knife-carrier pivoted at one end in said body near the bottom, the blades mounted on said carrier at the opposite end and adapted to be projected with a shearing cut as the carrier is swung on its pivotal center, an operating-stem for said car rier extending up through the tubular projection of the body, a handle connected with said stem and a spring for holdingthe knifecarrier and knives normally retracted; substantially as described.

2. In a stamp-mutilator the combination with the body having the transverse projection or enlargement and the upwardly-extending tubular projection, of a knife-carrier pivotally mounted in the transverse extension near the bottom, a series of cutting-blades mounted on said carrier and having substantially-straight cutting edges, whereby they are projected by the swinging of the carrier on its pivot with a shearing action, a jointed stem connected with said carrier and projecting through the tubular extension of the body and a handle connected with the upper end of said stem and a retracting-spring; substantially as described.

3. In a stamp-mutilator the combination withthe body, the knife-carrier pivoted therein at one end and near the bottom of the body, cutting-blades mounted on said knifecarrier near its free end and adapted to proj ect below the plane of the body with a shearing movement commencing at one end of the blades, an operating-stem for said carrier, a retracting-spring and an adjustable stop for limiting the movement of the carrier whereby the length of the cut made by the blades may be regulated; substantially as described.

CHARLES A. SKINNER. lVitnesses:

H. B. NAPIER, H. S. ALLEN. 

